PERTH, Australia — Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko delivered a devastating technical knockout in the 11th round of his bout against local favourite George Kambosos to claim the IBF lightweight championship title in Perth.
“Loma”, as the two-time Olympic gold medallist is known as, thoroughly dominated the showdown while Kambosos struggled to land his blows and hit the deck in the 11th round.
When the bout resumed, Lomachenko unleashed a flurry of punches to seal his victory in front of 14,000-plus fans at the RAC Arena.
“My plan was to adjust to my opponent,” Lomachenko, who is in the twilight of his career, said after the fight.
“This is what I did in the fight. Toward the end of the rounds I needed to finish strong. In the last three rounds, I was trying to find his body.”
Lomachenko was in charge right from the go, and his technical superiority was evident as he controlled the distance and struck with neat combinations.
The 36-year-old landed a sickening left hook in the eighth round that left Kambosos with blood streaming from near his right eye.
Kambosos doffed his hat to his opponent. “He’s one of the best fighters in history,” the 30-year-old said according to Reuters.
“I’m not ashamed. I wanted to finish the fight on the feet, I really did.”
After the fight, the 36-year-old Lomachenko, who improves to 18-3 as a professional, reflected on his first stoppage victory since 2021.
“It looks like a knockout, not ‘No-mas-chenko’ but we trained hard for this moment,” Lomachenko said.
“I want to say a big thank you to my opponent, he is a strong man, he is a true warrior.”
Kambosos, 30, suffered the first knockout defeat of his career and paid tribute to the three-division world champion.
“He’s a true champion, he’s a legend of the sport, I give him the utmost respect,” Kambosos, who slips to 21-3, said.
“We knew what we were coming up against. I tried my best, I had the best preparation and I gave everything in training camp.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough but it is what it is, I step to the best.
“This is one of the best fighters in history. I wanted to finish that fight on my feet, I really did, I wanted to finish the rounds, like I always do but there’s no shame in losing to a man like Lomachenko.”
The 30-year-old said of the future of hall-of-famer: “This guy is one of the best of all time.
“We tried our best, but he’s a good champion. He deserves that belt.
“I gave it my all. I’m still alive, I’m still standing. I ain’t dead.”
Lomachenko’s capturing of the belt Teofimo Lopez pipped him to in their Covid clash in October 2020 was watched by several fighters.
Gervonta Davis was one of the many interested observers and called out the former three-weight world champion in a now-deleted tweet.
‘Tank’ – who is gearing up to fight Frank Martin next month – tweeted: “He’s after Frank. Let me get Frank first.”
And Lomachenko wasted little time in responding to the controversial American, saying: “During my boxing career, I never run.
“I always take the fights.
Britain’s Nina Hughes felt she had been “robbed” after being incorrectly announced as the winner in her WBA title fight against Cherneka Johnson.
The bout, in Perth, Australia, concluded amidst farcical scenes as the ring announcer first called Hughes as the victor by a majority decision of the judges, before awarding the victory to her opponent.
Johnson was awarded the fight after with scores of 98-92, 96-94 with the final judge scoring it a draw.
After a close first eight rounds, Johnson moved into the ascendancy in the final two to take charge of the contest and hand Hughes the first loss of her seven-fight professional career.
“It’s a joke,” said Hughes, as reported by BBC Sport. “I feel like I’ve been robbed big time.
“There’s got to be a rematch. I didn’t lose that fight.
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